Letter to don Javier Sicilia from Subcomandante Insurgente Marcos

“The Indigenous Zapatistas Will March in Silence in the City of San Cristóbal de Las Casas, Chiapas”

By Subcomandante MarcosZapatista Army of National Liberation

April 28, 2011

“And to you, citizens, forty-nine children make you understand
That in Mexico justice got its sight back,
But it only sees through the right eye and slanting.
That in this country that lady is armless like Venus de Milo,
And is not beautiful, but grotesque.
What for reason of those aforementioned defects,
The scale held up by the whore drags and is made of mud.
That the feelings that saw the Mexican nation born
Do not live below the toga of that madame justice
Written here, intentionally not capitalized.
That’s why, Mexicans, this winged squad calls us:
To raise the palace of Justice in our own hands,
With our own love and with indefectible truth.
To break the walls that the little dictators build
To slant our eyes, hearts and mouths.
To fight until our final breath
And ourselves first into a country
That is dignified of the passage of the peace that we won.”

– Juan Carlos Mijangos Noh. (Fragment of “49 balloons” in memory of the 49 dead children in the ABC daycare center of Hermosillo, Sonora.)

To: Javier Sicilia. From: SupMarcos.

Brother and compañero: Greetings to you from the men, women, children, elderly, and ancient indigenous from the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN). The compañeras and compañeros with the Zapatista support bases have commissioned me to tell you the following: During these especially painful moments for our country, we feel summoned by the clamor that is synthesizing in your brave words, provoked by the pain from the vile murder of Juan Francisco Sicilia Ortega, Luis Antonio Romero Jaime, Julio César Romero Jaime and Gabriel Alejo Escalera, along with your call for a National March for Justice and against Impunity beginning May 5 in Cuernavaca, Morelos and arriving May 8 at the Zócalo in Mexico City. But, according to our modest capabilities, and in the framework of the national day which bring us together, the indigenous Zapatistas will march in silence in the city of San Cristóbal de Las Casas, Chiapas on May 7 to exercise our constitutional rights. After ending the march in silence, we will speak our words in Spanish and in our native languages, and after that we will return to our communities, villages and homes. In our silent march we will bring banners and signs with messages saying “Stop Calderón’s war,” “No more blood,” and “We have had it up to here.” We ask that you convey these words to the family members of the 49 boys and girls who died and the 70 others who were injured in the tragedy at the ABC daycare center in Hermosillo, Sonora, to the dignified Madres de Ciudad Juárez, to the Baron and Reyes Salazar families from Chihuahua, to the family members and friends of the victims in this arrogant war, to the human rights defenders of citizens and immigrants, to all of those who come together for the National March for Justice and against Impunity. We are responding to your call to name innocent victims, and today we are naming the boys and girls who died at the ABC daycare center in Hermosillo, Sonora, who are still waiting for justice: María Magdalena Millán García, Andrea Nicole Figueroa, Emilia Fraijo Navarro, Valeria Muñoz Ramos, Sofía Martínez Robles Fátima, Sofía Moreno Escalante, Dafne Yesenia Blanco Losoya, Ruth Nahomi Madrid Pacheco, Denisse Alejandra Figueroa Ortiz, Lucía Guadalupe Carrillo Campos, Jazmín Pamela Tapia Ruiz, Camila Fuentes Cervera, Ana Paula Acosta Jiménez, Monserrat Granados Pérez, Pauleth Daniela Coronado Padilla, Ariadna Aragón Valenzuela, María Fernanda, Miranda Hugues Yoselín, Valentina Tamayo Trujillo, Marian Ximena Hugues Mendoza, Nayeli Estefania González, Daniel Ximena Yanes Madrid, Yeseli Nahomi Baceli Meza, Ian Isaac Martínez Valle, Santiago Corona Carranza, Axel Abraham Angulo Cázares, Javier Ángel Merancio Valdez, Andrés Alonso García Duarte, Carlos Alán Santos Martínez, Martín Raymundo de la Cruz Armenta, Julio César Márquez Báez, Jesús Julián Valdez Rivera, Santiago de Jesús Zavala Lemas, Daniel Alberto Gayzueta Cabanillas Xiunelth, Emmanuel Rodríguez García Aquiles, Dreneth Hernández Márquez, Daniel Rafael Navarro Valenzuela, Juan Carlos Rodríguez Othón Germán, Paúl León Vázquez, Bryan Alexander Méndez García, Jesús Antonio Chambert López, Luis Denzel Durazo López Daré, Omar Valenzuela Contreras, Jonathan Jesús de los Reyes Luna, Emily Guadalupe Cevallos Badilla, Juan Israel Fernández Lara, Jorge Sebastián Carrillo González, Ximena Álvarez Cota Daniela, Guadalupe Reyes Carretas, Juan Carlos Rascón Holguín.

We demand justice for them. Because we know well that to name the dead is a way of not abandoning them, of not abandoning ourselves. Don Javier: Know that we are also making a call to our compañeros in the Other Campaign in Mexico and to those who are in other countries so that they join the mobilization that has been called. We will look forward to what happens for support in any way we can. OK. Greetings and don’t forget you are not alone.

From the mountains in southeast Mexico,
Subcomandante Insurgente Marcos
April 2011